Math Love
by cheesebucket
Summary: Short drabble from the P/R comm on LJ. Puck isn't just romantic, but also creative.


**A/N: I don't own Glee. If I did, I'd have enough money to buy all the glee merch I ever wanted.**

**From a photo prompt at the P/R drabble meme:**

**http:/community. livejournal. com/puckrachel/ ?thread=10695290#t10695290  
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He has this genius plan. He's going to be super romantic and then she'll finally be ready to give herself to him. It's not like he's pushing or anything; they've been together three months and he still hasn't gotten past second base, and he never complains. He's just become _very_ close with his hand again, but he doesn't complain, not even to Finn or Artie.

Anyway, he's going to do this thing Rachel calls "coming full circle." The whole thing between them started with math tutoring, and he thinks she'll get all mushy if he brings that back into the picture again.

He's really glad she doesn't get pissed when he tells her he failed his math quiz (he actually got an 85, which he's pretty stoked about, but he needs this plan to work). She invites him to come over after school to go over what he got wrong.

When they get to her room, she automatically asks him for the quiz to look at the questions. But he wasn't kidding when he said this was _genius_ and _planned out_.

"We didn't get to keep them. Mrs. Cross took them back 'cause she hadn't recorded the grades yet." Rachel huffs, tossing her hands up in the air. "How am I supposed to figure out what you did wrong then?" She shakes her head dramatically.

His hands rise up to bring hers back down to her sides. "Relax, Rach. I remember some of the problems, okay? I'll just do it from memory." Rachel sighs, nodding contently. She hands him a notebook and a pen and they settle on her bed to work. He tries to grin as he writes out the equation:

_9x – 7i 3 (3x – 7u)_

He shows her the page and her eyes scan across the line before she nods. "Alright. So what is your first action?" Puck looks at the equation again, squinting his eyes in mock concentration. "Gotta multiply the 3 through on the right side."

Rachel grins, tapping on the page gently. "Absolutely correct. Go ahead and do that." As he writes out the next line, she asks his next move, and he answers correctly, immediately beginning to write the next line.

–_7i –21u_

Puck glances up at her, trying his hardest not to smile. "The negatives cancel each other out, right?" She claps lightly, nodding before leaning over to kiss his cheek. "Yes, they do. See, you're very smart! You've almost got it. Now all you have left to do is…" she trails off, raising an eyebrow to indicate his should finish.

"Divide by 7, got it." He takes a deep breath as he writes out the final answer:

_i 3u_

Rachel nods, smiling as she runs a hand down his arm. "That's perfect, Noah. _3u_ is greater than _i_." He swallows thickly as he locks his gaze with hers. "I think you might wanna look at the answer again, Rach."

She shakes her head as she stands, moving to her desk to shuffle around a few papers. "No need, Noah. I know that's the right answer."

He groans, following her and shoving the notebook in her face. "Fuck, Berry, just look at the damn answer again!" He taps his finger hard against the page for emphasis.

Her brow furrows as she looks over the equation, trying to find some mistake. She stares at the answer for a moment before the realization hits her and she lifts her head to look at him, eyes wide.

"N-Noah… what… is this… Do you mean it?"

Puck laughs softly, dropping the notebook onto her desk and winding his arms around her waist. "Hell yeah, I mean it, Rach." He lowers his mouth to hers for a short but forceful kiss, pulling back to brush his lips against the tip of her nose. "I love you, Rachel Berry," he whispers.

Rachel feels tears begin to seep out from behind her closed eyelids. "I love you too, Noah," she whispers back, her arms sliding up to clutch his biceps.

"Good." He nods decisively before pressing his lips gently against her temple. He slides them down to her ear and lowers his voice.

"By the way, I didn't fail my math quiz."


End file.
